Feed now for comb production???

[Intheswamp]

Ok.  Monday we moved my two 10-frame deep hives from my mentor's over here to my house.  With the small (but growing) 8-frame medium nuc this will give me 3 colonies to start my beekeeping adventure.  My goal is to eventually move to all 8-frame mediums (especially since that's the only size equipment that I've bought! ;) ). 

The nuc has fully drawn comb in it, and is just about ready for a another box to be added.  The two 10-frame hives are also ready for additional room.  I will be putting 8-frame mediums on the 10-frame hives and using a painted 1x4 to fill the gap.

Just starting out I have no surplus comb so a goal this year is to get comb built (any honey will be gladly accepted, too! ;) ).  I'm in south Alabama and there are a few things blooming...henbit is wide-open though I've only seen bumble bees working it, a few wild plum trees, camellias are about spent, wild turnips, and ????  The bees in the nuc have been bringing in pollen steadily (they've really hit the camellias) but I'm not sure about nectar.  I *have* fed the nuc off and on for the last couple of months.

At the latest Sunday, I will be putting on an 8-frame box of Kelley's small cell foundation on each colony.  My question is whether to start feeding each colony to promote comb building or should I simply let them go with what they find foraging and way for the nectar flow to increase? 

We're having cloudy/rainy weather all this week but the temperatures are in the upper 70's with prediction for Friday of 81F!!  Lows in the mid-60's.  It is supposed to clear up this weekend but cool down about 10 degrees....lows will drop into the mid to upper 30's, but I don't anticipate that to last but a very few days.

So, put the mediums on and start feeding to encourage comb building?  Hold off on feeding?  Wait till after the cool spell?

I really appreciate the help and recommendations!
Ed

[FRAMEshift]

I will be putting 8-frame mediums on the 10-frame hives and using a painted 1x4 to fill the gap.

Just thought I'd mention some other ways to mix the deep and medium frames that might get you transitioned to all mediums faster.  During the transition period, you can just add medium frames to the 10-frame deep boxes.  That lets you remove individual deep frames  when they are temporarily empty without dumping the entire box of deeps at once.  There is the possibility that the bees will eventually start drawing the mediums below the bottom bar, but you can move those mediums out of the deep box when they are fully drawn... or just trim off any excess comb below the bottom bar.  Another possibility is to stack two medium 8-frame boxes and put deep and medium frames in the upper box so that the deep frames extend into the empty lower box.  This is the same idea as using mediums in the deep boxes except it gets you to all 8 frame stacks (probably not so important).  

As to your original question about feeding, I know you are in southern Alabama (I lived in Alabama until I was 30)  but it is still winter.  You could still get a blast of arctic air that will trap nurse bees on brood so that they freeze rather than going into cluster.  I would be afraid of stimulating excess brood production by feeding this early in the year.  This weather is very dangerous to bees, plants, and the whole ecosystem.

[Intheswamp]

Thanks for the tips on transitioning from 10 to 8 frame boxes, FRAMEshift.  I'm curious about any stores that might be left after the brood hatches...the honey I feel they could rob out but what about any pollen left around the perimeter of the brood area...will they get it?  Currently the 10 frame boxes have ~5 frames of brood in them.  Gotta get some boxes on them if the weather will cooperate...or if it doesn't.

Enough bees to cover the brood has been in the back of my mind.  Hopefully I can go through the colonies Sunday afternoon (forecast is sunny and in the mid to upper 60's) and make sure they have enough stores.  I'll put an 8-frame box on each of them, too, but I'll hold off on feeding. 

I have been worried about giving shb more places to hide by introducing a box of foundation to the hives, but I guess I'll just have to look a little closer now.

I've also got to move to the smaller colony.  Where I had positioned it was on a small rise between the terraces...I found out pretty quickly that it can be lots of fun working on a sloped area.  :roll:  I moved the colony row back about 20+ feet to a more level area....I figure to start moving them 2-3 feet at a time toward their final stand position.  I measured seven steps from present to final location so I'm figuring on seven moves.  How long should I wait between each step of the move???  Will a day do it or do I need to wait 2-3 days (or longer?) between moves?

Thanks,
Ed

[FRAMEshift]

the honey I feel they could rob out but what about any pollen left around the perimeter of the brood area...will they get it? 

They will take the pollen if they need it.  If they have lots coming in, maybe it doesn't matter.

..I figure to start moving them 2-3 feet at a time toward their final stand position.  I measured seven steps from present to final location so I'm figuring on seven moves.  How long should I wait between each step of the move???  Will a day do it or do I need to wait 2-3 days (or longer?) between moves?

OMG Ed, this is not necessary.  Just move the hives all at once and let the bees figure it out.   If too many foragers end up on some of the hives, you can equalize the frames later.  Also, if you close the entrances, move the hives, and then put something to partially block the entrance, you will encourage exiting foragers to re-orient.  Some people put tree branches in front of the entrance.  I just lean a board against the hive over the entrance.  Anything so they can't fly straight out but have to change their direction.  But really, it doesn't make much difference if you just let them end up where they want to.

[Intheswamp]

I really didn't make myself very clear.  The two new hives that I set up Monday are in their final position.  It's the single medium nuc that I need to move to get lined up with the other two.  Will moving that one hive the full distance in one move still be ok even though the other two hives won't be confused by being moved?  I've nursed that little colony along over the last few months and don't want to mess it up (no more than I have to).

On a side note...  I set a couple of painted mediums out along with a top cover to let them air out.  I set up to extra hive stands for "whatever" so I sat these boxes on one of them.  There are curious bees checking them out all along.  Nosey neighbors I guess...  :lol:

Ed

[CapnChkn]

I find when I just "up and move" the hive, the bees really get bent out of shape.  If I move them miles, then no problem - they'll figure it out.  If I move them a short distance and have another hive close where they were, I'm going to get a big boost in population.

Depending, that could be a good thing.  I had a "hot" hive that wouldn't let me work in the yard for weeks, they finally drove me to move them into the trees just to get some peace.  That wasn't to be had, because a colony I had set up in a little nuc box suddenly started growing a beard.

I did a split on the mean bees, gave them a new queen, and then moved the nuc 3 feet a day until they were 27 feet from the parent hive.  I then snuck up on them at night, moved them to their current position, and hung leafy branches where the bees would have to crawl through to get out.  I didn't have any noticeable drift.

I assume my technique did two things:

• Got them used to moving.  In other words, they learned to anticipate the hive being somewhere it wasn't supposed to be.
• Moved it away from any other hive so there would be no confusion which hive they belonged to.  My guess is they would then dig into their memories to track back.

[FRAMEshift]

Will moving that one hive the full distance in one move still be ok even though the other two hives won't be confused by being moved?  I've nursed that little colony along over the last few months and don't want to mess it up (no more than I have to).

If you are really worried about it, then you can use the "branch in front of the entrance technique."  But drift isn't really going to do any damage.  It happens all the time anyway.  If you get too few bees in one hive, you can just shake some bees in from another hive or move some capped brood to boost it back up.  I think of bees as "fungible" since they can be interchanged freely between hives.

The one thing you might be concerned about is that if you lose all the foragers, it might be a few day to a week before you get your guard bees back.  This could lead to robbing so you will want to keep an eye on the hive and maybe reduce the entrance if it looks like robbers are taking an interest.